To Be Different
by Squee the magical bunny
Summary: To him, they were cold and apathetic, the perfect guards. To them, he was their charge, of alpha priority and to be protected at all costs. When several ANBU entered the magical world, will their distrust get the best of these silent protectors or will the wizards be able to look underneath the underneath? Original work by SaturnXK


Hello~! Squee the Magical Bunny here! So after a few weeks of editing the first chapter of To be Different is finally ready for posting!

TBH I was only planning on posting this after I got started on the second chapter but then I thought, Hey! These people deserve to read it! So here it is! ^_^

I hope I did the original story justice…RnR!

And very special credit goes to SaturnXK as the original Author!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter OR Naruto…

….

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, Tsunade decided as she read a reply letter sent to her with the most peculiar way. She pulled out a small piece of paper and wrote a short note too it, before putting it in the drawer to her right. She would have to personally deliver that later.

The client, 'Albus Dumbledore,' an old friend of the Third Hokage's, had send her a letter of a mission request about a week ago and after a few replies and notes, Tsunade decided to consider accepting the mission…regardless how, _unusual_ the details. She just hoped this 'Patronus' jutsu Albus Dumbledore-san said would use to contact her in the future is as fast as he says. She wasn't really fond of owls anyway.

The "overgrown bird-beast" as she put it, ruffled its feathers and flew to the other side of the room, watching the 'seemingly' young Hokage with bright, beady eyes.

'Mouse! Lizard! Sparrow!' She barked for three of her ANBU personnel, knowing full well that they will have no problem hearing her due to the special jutsu casted upon the tattoos on their shoulder.

Almost instantly, the two shinobi and a kunoichi dressed in black attire were kneeling on one knee in front of her, amidst the swirl of leaves from their entrance. Their uniform consisted of black capris and a black armor covering most of their body except their shoulders where a curious tattoo shaped like an oriental swirl resided. Weapons of various kinds were strapped on their backs, showing just how lethal they can be.

Their body language betrays nothing of their emotions except the utmost respect for the village leader in front of them. The apparent leader, Lizard, spoke with a tone that suggests nonchalance yet with an undertone of a leader, ignoring yet not believing the undeniably peculiar sight of a nocturnal bird wide awake inside the tower in summer midafternoon, no less,

'Yes, Hokage-sama?' _And is that a freaking owl?_

Of course, the last line was not spoken.

These are the ANBU, mysterious…lethal…silent. They are the killers of the night, murderers living in the shadows, acting only under the direct command of the Hokage. There are a thousand words that can describe them, assassin being the most truthful. There is no stealth mode for ANBU. ANBU is stealth mode.

'I need Dove, Hawk and Raven,' She continued barking her orders, '_NOW_,' she was really regretting the decision of casting that jutsu to only the senior ANBUs. Maybe the council would agree…

Probably not…

'As you wish, Hokage-sama,' again, Lizard spoke in the same nonchalant voice, but her normal sweet maternal demeanor leaking through at the mention of her precious juniors , pulling her out of her thoughts. The three ANBUs dipped their heads ever so slightly and vanished in a swirl or leaves. They assemble for a brief moment on top of the Hokage Mountain before each shunshined to different directions. Lizard went to find Raven, or the 'ROOT kid' as the other senior ANBUs endearingly call him while Mouse and Sparrow went to find the Hyuuga cousins.

All the while Lizard was silently wondering who in the Elemental Countries would use an OWL to send messages. The absurdity of the method honestly gave him a headache. Of COURSE an owl in the middle of broad daylight in summer isn't the least bit suspicious, but who cares…

_I'm retiring next month anyway, not my problem anymore._

….

Sparrow soon arrived at the Hyuuga main gate, almost immediately feeling disgusted at the shinobi in front of her who was guarding the gates. Or should she say 'supposed'?

The ninja was thoroughly and carefully picking his nose, rolling the results around and around his forefinger and thumb into a small hard ball before flicking it off. Before he could explore his other nostril, Sparrow announced her purpose quietly with disgust only an ANBU (or a shinobi with at least half a brain) could detect in her voice.

'I have come to see Hyuuga Hinata-san,'

His reaction was nothing short of comical. His face began turning into the most vibrant shade of puce while wiping his finger on his capris. Sparrow wrinkled her nose (not that he can see it) and shunshined into the compound, leaving the spluttering sorry excuse of a shinobi behind.

…..

Hinata Hyuuga was happily at peace, enjoying her routine afternoon tea and sweet snacks in the compound garden accompanied by the household servants. The garden was not much different from other Japanese styled gardens, with a flat rock for her to use as seats and a nice big pond for the Koi to swim in. There were also some bamboos planted to complete the Zen look her late mother so adored.

She had recently came back from a retrieval mission in Kirigakure and is eager to spend the precious few moments of relaxation she had in the comforts of her home instead of her ANBU quarters for a change.

However, her relaxation time was cut short when she felt a too carefully suppressed chakra getting nearer to the Hyuuga Compound main gate. She could hear her senior's soft voice laced with…disgust? She ushered the servants inside. They obeyed with a low bow, leaving her alone.

It was roughly a few months after the first anniversary of the last ninja war. The village and the Elemental Countries as a whole were healing, which is a good sign. They were excepting missions again, as a bid to gain money for renovations and reconstructions. The dead were mourned and battles remembered, like a large scar in history books, like all other wars. But all in all, it was slowly beginning to feel normal again, at least for her.

Soon she found herself face to face with said Kunoichi.

'Senpai, she greeted the ANBU with a bow, banishing away her last thoughts and focusing completely on the kunoichi cum messenger in front of her.

'The Hokage wishes to see you,' Sparrow said without so much of a return to Hinata's earlier greeting. However, she wasn't perturbed. She spends much of her time around them to know what they really mean. After all, look underneath the underneath_. I'm sorry to disturb you especially so soon after a mission, Hinata._

'Of course…I suppose its ANBU related since you're here?' She asked in her flute like voice_. It's alright…it must be important._

Unlike most of her peers, she, her cousin and sometimes Shino didn't have much of a problem adopting their professional facade outside of the mask. Naruto, Lee, and Ino however were too cheerfully bright to keep the act up while the others just found it to be too emotionally exhausting, being so uptight, professional and formal all of the time.

However, there are a special few, like Shikamaru, who just declared it to be 'too troublesome', and Sai, whose whole 'I-am-A-profesional-ANBU-look-at-my-pointy-weapons' act was practically already his own (admittedly not much of a) personality.

Another dip of Sparrow's head and she vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving her alone once more. She wasted no time in changing into her usual training clothes instead of the plain yukata she was currently wearing.

Technically, ANBU costumes were only required during missions and official ceremonies. However, it was an unspoken, unwritten and unofficial agreement that to keep their image up, every ANBU should wear dark clothing when debriefing and handing of missions.

It admittedly made them look so much more badass.

It _was _a rule of the ANBU, however, that hair should always be above waist level when let loose, regardless of how they tie or style it. This led to most of her peers, including her, to trim their hair, much to Ino's (or Cat's) temporary chagrin. ('If you are serious of being an ANBU, Yamanaka-san, I suggest you act like it-')

Ouch…

….

'A guarding mission, Hokage-sama…?' Raven asked in his usual blank tone as he scanned the contents of the scroll, each detail admittedly getting more ridiculous than the last. Wizard…? Killing curse…? Scar…? The only words that made sense to him was 'Evil snake lord,' Even that, it still sounded absurd.

'Yes…I know the circumstances are…_different_…at best but I have the utmost belief that all of you could manage this mission,' She said briskly. Besides, she would like to meet this civilian that caught the eye of her sensei so much in her past.

_Makes sense_, Hawk thought. _Having two Hyuugas would make the mission that much easier._

'Raven, you will be the second in command with Fox and Stag acting as first and third,'

'Of course, Hokage-sama,'

'You may leave, but be prepared because I want you three to accompany me to Suna the day tomorrow at the crack of dawn. Do not be late…or **else**,' Tsunade left the threat hanging but they weren't exactly Kakashi so she isn't too worried.

'Shizune!' She called out for her assistant as soon as the trio shunshined from her office.

'Yes, Hokage-sama?' The young apprentice rushed into the office, slightly hoping that it wouldn't be for sake this time. They were rapidly running out of it and an alcohol-denied Hokage faced with paperwork is not something she would wish upon not even to her worst enemy.

'I need the fastest hawk available to send this to the Kazekage,' Tsunade pulled out the same drawer earlier and handed the note.

'The Kazekage?' Shizune asked distractedly, frowning at the note.

'YES! NOW!' Tsunade urged hotly. Shizune paled and quickly do what she was told, scrambling out and ran hastily towards the hawk cages.

Tsunade sighed, slumping into her seat and pulling out a bottle of sake from her secret stash. As she poured herself a cup, her mouth upturned into a grin, swishing the cup's intoxicating contents around and around. She just hoped Gaara isn't too pissed she can't get him out of paperwork this time. Oh well…

'A year without Naruto…or that lazy brat Shikamaru…or Sai with that shit-eating grin of his…Or that emo one-word Uchiha…' She rolled the words on her tongue, savoring the meaning. She poured herself another cup and drank it in one go, 'Now this requires a celebration…'

….

'AICHOO!' Fox groaned mentally as his nasal felt as if it was on fire. _Someone's talking about me_, he grumbled.

He managed to mostly ignore the pain radiating off the few senbons embedded in his forearm. They were on a simple assassination mission of a tyrant feudal lord. The lord had allied himself with a gang of thieves, who had stolen various forbidden jutsu scrolls in multiple villages, Konohagakure being one of the most recent.

They managed to track the lord to one of his many owned houses hidden in the forest at the outskirts of Iwagakure. They also found he had hired close to a hundred rouge nin as guards, which prompted a very familiar phrase out of their strategist.

However, the once a simple mission took a bloody turn when one of the rouge nin they initially took for interrogation managed to activate an explosive tag attached to his own body as a suicide attempt.

Needless to say the other nins were pissed when they heard the explosion, even more so when they saw nearly three squads of ANBU standing over the charred body of what used to be their comrade.

He was engaging in a short distance battle with one of the nin when the sneeze raked through his body.

On the corner of his eye he saw Panda using one of her beloved toys, the hooked barbs at the edge of the sword-like weapon completely shredding her opponent's arm and leg. He could have sworn she was enjoying this.

Soon he could feel sprays of dirt and grass hitting him followed with a loud battle cry, no doubt from one of Slug's chakra-enhanced punches.

The battle cry was quickly followed by the shrill sound akin to a thousand bird calls, but it was quickly dampened with a sickening squelch and the unmistakable crunch of bones. Snake huffed, that was the second Chidori he used in this battle. He really hoped that it was going to end soon, he didn't manage to finish his dinner, (_Soba with rice and Unagi…yum…_) and the chakra slowly depleting isn't doing much good, either.

_Snake really shouldn't use his special technique_; Fox pondered slightly and managed to pull the senbons out of his arm. That is, before slamming his Rasengan onto another ninja's stomach. The bastard was creeping up on him from behind.

Said ninja flew halfway across the battlefield before crashing into a huge tree, slumping onto the ground, his abdomen now merely nothing other than ribbons of intestine and meat. _Then again…I shouldn't either…Oh well…_ He dodged several kunai and shuriken before throwing some of his own.

Stag, being the other side of the battlefield, used a more…relaxed, approach. He didn't charge at his opponents like his comrades. He preferred waiting. He used a charging nin as a springboard and quickly silted his throat in one fluid motion. The after effects were not exactly mess-free.

He wasted no time swiped the nin's legs with his using his arms as anchors. The nin fell on the ground, his head hitting the earth with a loud crack. He detected two poorly conceal chakra signatures behind him and threw a few shuriken, each hitting a vital organ. _Much cleaner_, he marveled in personal approval.

Another nin threw an explosive tag attached to a kunai, which of course, Stag dodged easily. The kunai embedded itself on the tree behind him with a familiar thud. He did not, however, expect the nin to activate it that quickly. The chips of burning wood managed to give him not more than a few blisters, but it was still troublesome.

Not far from him, Slug glowered around the seemingly empty battlefield (except for Stag and his opponents a little farther to her right) she was in, _seriously! We just supposed to take them out QUIETLY! How did it get this messy?_

She could feel tiny tremors in the ground she was standing in that she was sure coming from the nin. It seemed to come from different places all at once almost impossible for her to accurately detect the obviously earth user nin. She growled and decided to take the shortcut she learned from one of her ANBU handlers. She carefully used her chakra to 'enhance' the small vibrations. The vibration turned into pulses in which she could properly feel. It was getting closer…closer…a bit more…

'SHANNARO!' She punched the earth, making a huge crater in the process, dirt flying everywhere. She smirked at the sight of the dead earth nin caught in her punch. The nin's limbs were sprawled at an awkward angle while his head was twisted unnaturally, exposing his blank face, blood seeping out of his mouth.

Stag managed to get out of the way but he threw a scowl to his teammate, who managed to get a picture despite it being hidden by his mask. But at least some of the nin he was facing was dead as well.

Tortoise was clearly the most enthusiastic of the ANBUs. He planted his palms onto the ground and he delivered kick after kick to the female nin he was facing, making sure to stay clear of her 'assets'. He might be an ANBU sent on a mission to kill these nins but he's still a man. And it's unyouthful for any man to treat women less than the princesses they are. He then leaped up and stood on both her shoulder, using his knees to twist her head thus snapping her neck, killing her instantly. He leaped off, pulling the same move on another nin. _At least it's quick for them! Slow and painful in death is quite unyouthful!_

The other ANBUs were in pursuit of the feudal lord, who manage to took almost twenty men with him before fleeing into the dark forest.

Soon, the battle was over and the ANBU squad found themselves standing over multiple dead bodies of rouge nin. Soon, the other ANBUs returned, with bodies of the other rouge nin and the feudal lord carried like sacks upon their shoulders. They dropped it unceremoniously before they began their inspection. They managed to find the stolen scrolls hidden inside one of the rouge nin's lolling tongue, thanks to Akamaru.

'A seal…' Stag said as he inspected the tongue and frowned. 'These seals are quite common but quite-'

'Troublesome… we know,' Fox grinned silently while checking the seal himself.

Stag sighed, 'The seal needs a steady stream of chakra to remain imprinted. If not…the seal will disappear and the contents lost forever…See, the edges are already fading…The seal needs to be at full power to enable the seal to be broken' He pointed out. True to his word, the black marks are fading fast, leaving only small slashes on the nin's slimy lolling appendage.

'And obviously we can't do it here,' Boar huffed, deflating himself after using his family jutsu, 'Too vulnerable,'

'So that means we have to bring it back,' Slug said thoughtfully. Stag nodded, confirming her hypothesis.

'Alright. Slug and I are going to keep chakra pumping while I need Dog and Akamaru to support the body. Snake, Cat and Boar will come with us. We'll have to move fast. The rest of you stay here and clear the surrounding.' Fox gave his orders after a few moment of thought. 'What do you think?' He consulted the squad's strategist. Stag nodded, giving his consent and approval.

'Alright, give us a few minutes before cleanup,' Fox and Slug were already loading the body onto Akamaru with Snake, Cat and Boar in tow. They shunshined out of the bloody battlefield, leaving the rest of the squad behind for cleanup duty.

….

It was well after nightfall when the rest of the squad managed to reach Konohagakure. The medic-nins managed to break the seal and the forbidden scrolls were retrieved without many problems.

Fox and Stag went to the Hokage Tower for their oral report. Hopefully Tsunade would give them a day before asking for their written report.

'Will that be all? Hokage-sama?' Fox asked as Tsunade reviewed their mission and wrote it into the official record, a brush gracefully stroked on the scroll.

'No…actually,' she surveyed the two blood-crusted ANBU in front of her, beckoning them to sit down. They looked at each other for a fleeting moment and obeyed, having a feeling that it was going to be a long night.

….

'You have got to be kidding,' Naruto groaned to his co-captain. Their masks hanged limply from their belts as they made their way into ANBU headquarters. _The mission briefing ended a half hour ago and he's still complaining_, Shikamaru sighed. But it's not like he doesn't have a good reason.

A mission outside the Elemental Countries was scarce at best and avoided for a reason. The Elemental Countries were the world's biggest secrets, kept so hidden that only a select few have even the slightest knowledge about it. This 'Albus Dumbledore' must be important to be one of those very, VERY select few.

'Well you were the one that wanted more 'awesome' mission,' He snorted.

'But not this,' Naruto whined, sounding like an overgrown child.

'Too bad,' Shikamaru yawned and sighed. There was still so much to do. He needed to get his clothes washed and the blood removed before it became permanent. He was sure the others were already fast asleep and he needed to sore his back bending over a plastic tub full of smelly bleach. So troublesome…

He waved Naruto good night as he trudged into his apartment the ANBU so kindly gave to him while he made his way towards his own home.

While washing his clothes, Shikamaru decided a one-year mission guarding a magical castle wouldn't be too bad after all.

As he lay in bed, drifting to Lala-land, he had one last coherent thought, maybe, just maybe, this 'Harry potter' gaki has enough brains to keep out of trouble and do something not stupid for a change.

…..

It was almost noon when Cat, Hawk, Raven and their Lady Hokage reached the hardened sand-walled village that is Sunagakure. The heat of summer was especially bothersome at that time, making the ANBU rather uncomfortable in their black armor.

They were standing behind their seated Hokage, each at her sides, she herself facing the Sabaku no Gaara, the current Kazekage, as she explained the mission and her request.

'So you want Salamander to join in this mission?' He raised a non-existent eyebrow.

'Yes, Kazekage-sama, Tsunade respectfully nodded.

'Why him?' _And not me? I thought Kages were supposed to help each other damnit!_

'We believe his puppets would make a great asset to the squad…His puppets, alongside Fox's Bunshins, will drastically make surveillance a lot better,' She explained.

The Kazekage pondered it for a while before agreeing under the pretense of strengthening the bonds between both of the village's ANBU squads.

It was not long after they discussed, written out and signed the official papers when a mist of pure bluish white burst into the room and taking the form of a silver bird that none of them knew. If they had known, however, they would realize that the bird was a phoenix, a magical bird highly popular among wizards.

What happened then was to be expected. The lower ranking Shinobi in the room cried out in surprise while the ANBU and both the Kages went on full alert mode. Weapons of various kinds were unsheathed while sand seemed to be leaking out from the guard on the Kazekage's back.

'Please, Tsunade-sama, It's Albus Dumbledore,' The silvery, misty bird opened his beak and a slightly accented voice belonged to what sounded like an old man filtered through. 'I need your help now more than ever,'

'And how do we know we can trust you?!' She spat venomously, throwing senbons at the bird, each hitting its target but none of them seem to do any harm.

The bird then transformed into a seal which Tsunade knows only belonged to the Third. It was shaped like a monkey, using the words 'Sarutobi,' there were certain characteristics of the seal that made it especially unique that made easy to identify to the expert eye.

The seal was bound by a type of forbidden jutsu that would make it completely useless in the hands of any other. That and it would blow a 'thief' with any bad intent on stealing the seal into a million pieces.

Tsunade let her guard down somewhat and gestured the ANBU to do the same. But the Kazekage was not that easily to convince. Sand still streamed steadily out of the guard and around the floor in which the phoenix was floating.

'The mission needs to be carried out at once. I know this must be terribly inconvenient for you but there was an emergency. I daresay to say, If convenient, please accept. If inconvenient, I beg of you, please accept anyway,'

The Hokage could sense the genuine desperation and said rather begrudgingly, 'Alright we accept,' the sum offered was too huge for her to pass on anyway_. SLOTS HERE I COME!_

The voice sighed, as though releasing a burden he had carried for a thousand years before, 'Thank you….I shall come in an hour after I arrange a portkey to your office…Thank You Tsunade-sama…'

'And may I ask, Dumbledore-san, what is the emergency?' Raven asked, trying not to sound too annoyed (or rude because six zeros is a huge number). He hoped that no other client had '_emergencies_' like this. It would be a mess to get sorted out before the mission.

'This is Raven,' Tsunade introduced the ebony haired youth, 'Second in command of the mission,'

'Of course, Raven-san, Tsunade-san, Harry Potter was attacked…By what we believe Dementors now in Voldemort's control…'

…..

Welp! That's it for now :DDDD

See ya next time~!


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